Founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools, the university became the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912 and began granting four-year degrees. In 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to form Carnegie Mellon University.

Carnegie Mellon is ranked 24th in the United States by U.S. News & World Report rankings.[9] It is home to the world’s first degree-granting Robotics and Drama programs,[10] as well as one of the first Computer Science departments.[11] The university was ranked 89th for R&D in 2015 having spent $242 million.[12]

Carnegie Mellon counts 13,650 students from 114 countries, over 100,000 living alumni, and over 5,000 faculty and staff. Past and present faculty and alumni include 20 Nobel Prize Laureates,[13]12 Turing Award winners, 22 Members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences,[14] 19 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 72 Members of the National Academies, 114 Emmy Award Winners, 44 Tony Award laureates and 7 Academy Award Winners.[15]

Institutional formation

Andrew Carnegie, founder of the Carnegie Technical Schools

The Carnegie Technical Schools were founded in 1900 in Pittsburgh[16] by the Scottish American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who wrote the time-honored words "My heart is in the work", when he donated the funds to create the institution. Carnegie's vision was to open a vocational training school for the sons and daughters of working-class Pittsburghers (many of whom worked in his mills). Carnegie was inspired for the design of his school by the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York founded by industrialist Charles Pratt in 1887.[17] In 1912 the institution changed its name to Carnegie Institute of Technology (CIT) and began offering four-year degrees. During this time, CIT consisted of four constituent schools: the School of Fine and Applied Arts, the School of Apprentices and Journeymen, the School of Science and Technology, and the Margaret Morrison Carnegie School for Women.

The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research was founded in 1913 by banker and industrialist brothers Andrew (who went on to become Treasury Secretary) and Richard B. Mellon in honor of their father, Thomas Mellon, the patriarch of the Mellon family. The Institute began as a research organization which performed work for government and industry on contract and was initially established as a department within the University of Pittsburgh. In 1927, the Mellon Institute incorporated as an independent nonprofit. In 1938, the Mellon Institute's iconic building was completed and it moved to its new, and current, location on Fifth Avenue.

In 1967, with support from Paul Mellon, Carnegie Tech merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to become Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon's coordinate women's college, the Margaret Morrison Carnegie College closed in 1973 and merged its academic programs with the rest of the university.[18]

The industrial research mission of the Mellon Institute survived the merger as the Carnegie Mellon Research Institute (CMRI) and continued doing work on contract to industry and government. CMRI closed in 2001 and its programs were subsumed by other parts of the university or spun off into independent entities.[19]

For decades the center of student life on campus was "Skibo Hall", the University's student union. Built in the 1950s, Skibo Hall's design was typical of Mid-Century Modern architecture, but was poorly equipped to deal with advances in computer and internet connectivity. The original Skibo was razed in the summer of 1994 and replaced by a new student union that is fully wi-fi enabled. Known as University Center, the building was dedicated in 1996. In 2014, Carnegie Mellon re-dedicated the University Center as the Cohon University Center in recognition of the eighth president of the university, Jared Cohon.[20]

A large grassy area known as "the Cut" forms the backbone of the campus, with a separate grassy area known as "the Mall" running perpendicular. The Cut was formed by filling in a ravine (hence the name) with soil from a nearby hill that was leveled to build the College of Fine Arts building.

The northwestern part of the campus (home to Hamburg Hall, Newell-Simon Hall, Smith Hall, and Gates Hillman Complex) was acquired from the United States Bureau of Mines in the 1980s.

In 2006, Carnegie Mellon Trustee Jill Gansman Kraus donated the 80-foot (24 m)-tall sculpture Walking to the Sky, which was placed the lawn facing Forbes Ave between the Cohon University Center and Warner Hall. The sculpture was controversial for its placement, the general lack of input that the campus community had, and its aesthetic appeal.[21]

In April 2015, Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with Jones Lang LaSalle, announced the planning of a second office space structure, alongside the Robert Mehrabian Collaborative Innovation Center, an upscale and full-service hotel, and retail and dining development along Forbes Avenue. This complex will connect to the Tepper Quadrangle, the Heinz College, the Tata Consultancy Services Building, and the Gates-Hillman Center to create an innovation corridor on the university campus. The effort is intended to continue to attract major corporate partnerships to create opportunities in research, teaching, and employment with students and faculty.[22]

A panoramic view of Carnegie Mellon University's Pittsburgh campus from the College of Fine Arts Lawn.
From left to right: College of Fine Arts, Hunt Library, Baker and Porter Hall, Hamerschlag Hall, University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning (in the background), Wean Hall and Doherty Hall, Purnell Center, and the Cohon University Center. Also visible are "The Fence," and the "Walking to the Sky" sculpture.

There was little change to the campus between the first and second World War. A 1938 master plan by Githens and Keally suggested acquisition of new land along Forbes Avenue, but the plan was not fully implemented. The period starting with the construction of the Graduate School of Industrial Administration building (1952) and ending with Wean Hall (1971) saw the institutional change from Carnegie Institute of Technology to Carnegie Mellon University. New facilities were needed to respond to the University's growing national reputation in artificial intelligence, business, robotics and the arts. In addition, an expanding student population resulted in a need for improved facilities for student life, athletics and libraries. The campus finally expanded to Forbes Avenue from its original land along Schenley Park. A ravine long known as "The Cut" was gradually filled in to campus level, joining "the Mall" as a major campus open space.

The buildings of this era reflect current attitudes toward architectural style. The International Style, with its rejection of historical tradition and its emphases on functionalism and expression of structure, had been in vogue in urban settings since the 1930s. It came late to the Carnegie campus because of the hiatus in building activity and a general reluctance among all institutions of higher education to abandon historical styles. By the 1960s, it was seen as a way to accomplish the needed expansion and at the same time give the campus a new image. Each building was a unique architectural statement that may have acknowledged the existing campus in its placement, but not in its form or materials.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the tenure of University President Richard Cyert (1972–1990) witnessed a period of growth and development. The research budget grew from roughly US$12 million annually in the early 1970s to more than US$110 million in the late 1980s. The work of researchers in new fields like robotics and software engineering helped the university build on its reputation. One example of this approach was the introduction of the university's "Andrew" computing network in the mid-1980s. This pioneering project, which linked all computers and workstations on campus, set the standard for educational computing and established Carnegie Mellon as a leader in the use of technology in education and research. On April 24, 1984, cmu.edu, Carnegie Mellon's Internet domain became one of the first six .edu domain names.

Present

Wean Hall, home of the world's first internet-enabled soda vending machine.[23]

In the 1990s and into the 2000s, Carnegie Mellon solidified its status among American universities, consistently ranking in the top 25 in the national U.S. News & World Report rankings, and in the top 60 (ranking 55th in 2013) amongst universities worldwide.[24][25] Carnegie Mellon is distinct in its interdisciplinary approach to research and education. Through the establishment of programs and centers that are outside the limitations of departments or colleges, the university has established leadership in fields such as computational finance, information systems, cognitive sciences, management, arts management, product design, behavioral economics, energy science and economics, human-computer interaction, entertainment technology, and decision science. Within the past two decades, the university has built a new university center (Cohon University Center), theater and drama building (Purnell Center), business school building (Posner Hall), student union and several dormitories. Baker Hall was renovated in the early 2000s (decade), and new chemistry labs were established in Doherty Hall soon after. Several computer science buildings, such as Newell Simon Hall, also were established, renovated or renamed in the early 2000s (decade). The university has most recently completed building the Gates Hillman Complex and continues renovating historic academic and residence halls.

The Gates Hillman Complex, opened for occupancy on August 11, 2009, sits on a 5.6-acre (2.3 ha) site on the university's West Campus, surrounded by Cyert Hall, the Purnell Center for the Arts, Doherty Hall, Newell-Simon Hall, Smith Hall, Hamburg Hall and the Robert Mehrabian Collaborative Innovation Center. It contains 318 offices as well as labs, computer clusters, lecture halls, classrooms and a 255-seat auditorium. The Gates Hillman Complex was made possible by a $20 million lead gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and an additional $10 million grant from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation. The Gates Hillman Complex and the Purnell Center for the Arts are connected by the Randy Pausch Memorial Footbridge.[26]

Cohon University Center, which contains an indoor swimming pool, bookstore, student club facilities, gym, and cafeteria.

On July 1, 2003, Carnegie Mellon launched "Insp!re Innovation", a $1 billion comprehensive fundraising campaign. Half of the campaign goal is intended for the endowment to provide long-lasting support for faculty, students and breakthrough innovations. The campaign brought in a total of $1.19 billion, with $578.5 million going toward Carnegie Mellon's endowment. It also enabled the university to establish 31 endowed professorships, 97 endowed fellowships and 250 endowed scholarships.[27] On September 7, 2011, William S. Dietrich II, the former chairman of Dietrich Industries, Inc., a subsidiary of Worthington Industries, Inc., pledged a gift of $265 million, effective on October 6, 2011, upon his death. In response to this gift, Carnegie Mellon renamed the College of Humanities of Social Sciences as the Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences after William Dietrich's mother.[28]

In September 2012, Carnegie Mellon announced the construction of the Sherman and Joyce Bowie Scott Hall on the Pittsburgh campus. The new building will be situated between Hamerschlag Hall, Roberts Hall, and Wean Hall and will house the university-wide Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, a new nanotechnology research center, the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, and the Biomedical Engineering Department.[29] Further, in November 2013, Carnegie Mellon announced a $67 million gift from David Tepper, who previously donated $56 million, to develop the Tepper Quadrangle on the north campus. The Tepper Quad will include a new Tepper School of Business facility across Forbes Avenue from a renovated and expanded Heinz College[30] as well as other university-wide buildings and a welcome center which will serve as a public gateway to the university.[31] Alongside the Tepper Quad and Hamburg Hall, Carnegie Mellon will construct an innovation center with a $35 million gift from Tata Consultancy Services which will partner with Carnegie Mellon to develop technology and business solutions.[32]

Admissions and enrollment

For Fall 2016, Carnegie Mellon received 21,189 freshmen applications; 4,601 were admitted (21.7%) and 1,552 enrolled.[35] The acceptance rates of the individual colleges vary, ranging from the School of Drama, housed within the College of Fine Arts (3%), to the School of Computer Science (6%), to the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences (23%).[36] The average high school grade point average (GPA) of the enrolled freshmen was 3.76, while the middle 50% range of SAT scores were 660-750 for critical reading, 720-800 for math, and 670-760 for writing.[35] The middle 50% range of the ACT Composite score was 31-34.[35]

The largest college, in terms of enrollment, is the College of Engineering with 406 students in the class of 2020, followed by the Dietrich College of Humanities & Social Sciences with 273, and the College of Fine Arts with 242. The smallest college in terms of total undergraduate enrollment is the Tepper School of Business, with 146. Carnegie Mellon enrolls students from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and 15.6% of the students are citizens of countries other than the United States, representing more than 40 countries. Undergraduate tuition is $49,610 and room and board is $12,830 plus additional costs.[37] Carnegie Mellon graduates 62% of its undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, the 13th highest percentage in the United States amongst national research universities.[38]

Nationally, U.S. News & World Report ranks Carnegie Mellon tied for 24th among American research universities in 2017.[47]U.S. News also ranked Carnegie Mellon 1st for graduate studies in computer science, tied for 5th for graduate studies in engineering, 6th for graduate studies in fine arts, 13th for graduate studies in public affairs, 9th for graduate studies in statistics, 20th for graduate studies in economics, 19th for graduate studies in business, and 17th for graduate studies in psychology in 2016.[48]

The undergraduate business program is ranked 2nd for management information systems, 2nd for production/operations and quantitative analysis, 8th for supply chain management, and tied for 6th as an undergraduate business program overall.[47] The undergraduate engineering program at colleges that offer doctorates as the highest degree was ranked tied for 8th overall, 5th for computer engineering, 9th for environmental engineering, and 11th for mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering in 2017.[47]

Carnegie Mellon was named one of the "New Ivies" by Newsweek.[49] In 2010, the Wall Street Journal ranked Carnegie Mellon 1st in computer science, 4th in finance, 10th overall, and 21st in engineering according to job recruiters.[50] Carnegie Mellon University ranks thirteenth among "Best Colleges By Salary Potential (Bachelor's Only)" in the United States according to PayScale's 2016–17 study.[51] In 2016, the Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business placed 15th in an annual ranking of U.S. business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek.[52]

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter ranked the School of Drama number three in the world among undergraduate drama schools.[53] In 2015, the same publication ranked the MFA program at the School of Drama number five in the world.[54]

In 2015, Carnegie Mellon University has been ranked The Best Information Technology School in the United States.[55]

International activities

In addition to its Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon has a branch campus in the Middle East, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, which offers a full undergraduate curriculum with degree programs in computer science, business administration, biology, computational biology, and information systems. The campus is located in Doha’s Education City which is home to multiple other U.S. universities all of which are funded by the Qatar Foundation. The Qatari campus in particular has been the subject of criticism due to Qatar’s adherence to Sharia Law and lack of freedom of speech and intellectual freedoms. Questions have been raised about whether an American institution that values these ideas can provide an equal experience in a community that limits them.[57] Additionally, Carnegie Mellon and other U.S. Universities in Education City have been criticized for being essentially complicit in Qatar's funding of terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Hamas and their questionable human rights record by continuing to operate there despite these issues.[57][58][59][60]

While enrolled at Carnegie Mellon, acting students Michael McKean and David Lander (class of 1969) created the characters "Lenny & Squiggy". The pair continued performing the characters in live comedy routines before joining the cast of the TV series Laverne and Shirley.

In 2008, Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" became a pop culture phenomenon. Based on a lecture he gave in September 2007 – shortly after he learned his cancer had metastasized – his book quickly rose to the top of bestseller lists around the country. Named in Time Magazine's "Time 100" list of influential people, he died in July 2008 from pancreatic cancer.[65]

The 68th Tony Awards in 2014 announced Carnegie Mellon University as its first educational partner in jointly awarding the "Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre Education", which will "honor kindergarten through high school (K-12) theatre educators."[66]

The College of Fine Arts is one of the oldest colleges of fine arts in the United States, and today it is a federation of five distinct schools: The School of Architecture, The School of Music, The School of Design, The School of Drama, and The School of Art. Unlike the other colleges at CMU, where switching between undergraduate programs within the student's currently enrolled college is relatively straightforward, switching to a different school within CFA often requires the student go through an application process similar to that of a High School student.[67][68][69] The college shares research projects, interdisciplinary centers and educational programs with other units across the university.[70] The College of Fine Arts runs masters programs in Arts Management and Entertainment Industry Management with the Hienz College.

The H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy offers top-ranked master's degrees in Public Policy and Management, Health Care Policy and Management, Medical Management, Public Management, Information Systems and Management, Information Technology, and Information Security Policy and Management. The Heinz College also runs masters programs in Arts Management and Entertainment Industry Management with the College of Fine Arts. It consists of the School of Information Systems & Management and the School of Public Policy & Management. It also offers several PhD and executive education programs.

The Hunt Library at Carnegie Mellon University is the largest library on the Pittsburgh Campus

The Gates Center is a recent addition to the university's computer science school.

The School of Computer Science: Carnegie Mellon University helped define, and continually redefines, the field of computer science. The School of Computer Science is recognized internationally as one of the top schools for computer science.[71] The School of Computer Science includes seven departments: the Computer Science Department, Computational Biology Department, Robotics Institute, Institute for Software Research, Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Language Technologies Institute, and the Machine Learning Department.

The Tepper School of Business offers undergraduate programs in Business Administration and Economics (the latter jointly with the Dietrich College), master's degrees in Business Administration (MBA) and joint degrees in Computational Finance (MSCF) with the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Mellon College of Science, the Heinz College, and the School of Computer Science. In addition, joint degrees are offered with Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Heinz College. The Tepper School also offers doctoral degrees in several areas and presents a number of executive education programs. Following a $67 million donation from David A. Tepper in 2013, the university sought to expand the undergraduate business program. In summer of 2015, the business program was revamped and a new curriculum was formally instated.[72]

Carnegie Mellon also runs the Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology (IDeATe) Network to provide university-wide arts and technology education to students from every college. IDeATe allows students to take minors or concentrations in Animation and Special Effects, Entrepreneurship for Creative Industries, Game Design, Intelligent Environments, Learning Media, Media Design, Physical Computing, and Sound Design. IDeAte will also offer graduate master's degrees in Emerging Media, Game Design, Integrative Innovation for Products and Services, Computational Data Science, Urban Design, and Production Technology and Management. IDeATe also manages the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) in conjunction with the School of Computer Science and the College of Fine Arts. Each master's degree program has an option to study in the CMU Integrative Media Program (IMP) at Steiner Studios in New York City. IDeATe Network will be based on the Pittsburgh campus upon development of recently acquired property on Forbes Avenue west of Junction Hollow.[73]

In addition to research and academic institutions, the University hosts several other educationally driven programs. The Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences, a state-funded summer program that aims to foster interest in science amongst gifted high school students is run on campus every summer. The University also runs Pre-College, a 6-week residential program for rising juniors and seniors in high school, with programs in Drama, Music, Art & Design, Architecture, Game Design & Development, Humanities & Sciences, Mathematics, and Computer Science. Additionally, the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Talented Elementary and Secondary Students program (C-MITES) is hosted on CMU campus. The Cyert Center for Early Education is a child care center for Carnegie Mellon faculty and staff, as well as an observational setting for students in child development courses. The Open Learning Initiative provides free courses online in a variety of fields to students globally.

Mach (kernel) - Richard Rashid and Avie Tevanian developed Mach at Carnegie Mellon from 1985 to 1994, ending with Mach 3.0, which is a true microkernel. Mach was developed as a replacement for the kernel in the BSD version of Unix, so no new operating system would have to be designed around it. Experimental research on Mach appears to have ended, although Mach and its derivatives exist within a number of commercial operating systems. These include NeXTSTEP and OpenStep, upon which macOS and iOS are based.[83]

Research

For the 2006 fiscal year, the University spent $315 million on research. The primary recipients of this funding were the School of Computer Science ($100.3 million), the Software Engineering Institute ($71.7 million), the College of Engineering ($48.5 million), and the Mellon College of Science ($47.7 million). The research money comes largely from federal sources, with federal investment of $277.6 million. The federal agencies that invest the most money are the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense, which contribute 26% and 23.4% of the total university research budget respectively.[37]

The recognition of Carnegie Mellon as one of the best research facilities in the nation has a long history, as early as the 1987 Federal budget CMU was ranked as third in the amount of research dollars with $41.5 million with only MIT and Johns Hopkins receiving more research funds from the Department of Defense.[88]

The Robotics Institute (RI) is a division of the School of Computer Science and considered to be one of the leading centers of robotics research in the world. The Field Robotics Center (FRC) has developed a number of significant robots, including Sandstorm and H1ghlander, which finished second and third in the DARPA Grand Challenge, and Boss, which won the DARPA Urban Challenge. The Robotics Institute has partnered with a spinoff company, Astrobotic Technology, to land a CMU robot on the moon by 2016 in pursuit of the Google Lunar XPrize. The robot, known as Andy, is designed to explore lunar pits, which might include entrances to caves.[90] The RI is primarily sited at Carnegie Mellon's main campus in Newell-Simon hall.[91]

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University, with offices in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Arlington, Virginia, and Frankfurt, Germany. The SEI publishes books on software engineering for industry, government and military applications and practices. The organization is known for its Capability Maturity Model[92][93] (CMM) and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), which identify essential elements of effective system and software engineering processes and can be used to rate the level of an organization's capability for producing quality systems. The SEI is also the home of CERT/CC, the federally funded computer security organization. The CERT Program's primary goals are to ensure that appropriate technology and systems management practices are used to resist attacks on networked systems and to limit damage and ensure continuity of critical services subsequent to attacks, accidents, or failures.[94]

The Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) is a division of the School of Computer Science and is considered one of the leading centers of human-computer interaction research, integrating computer science, design, social science, and learning science.[95] Such interdisciplinary collaboration is the hallmark of research done throughout the university.

Carnegie Mellon is also home to the Carnegie School of management and economics. This intellectual school grew out of the Tepper School of Business in the 1950s and 1960s and focused on the intersection of behavioralism and management. Several management theories, most notably bounded rationality and the behavioral theory of the firm, were established by Carnegie School management scientists and economists.

Student life

Carnegie Mellon's student life includes over 225 student organizations, art galleries, and various unique traditions. Student organizations provide social, service, media, academic, spiritual, recreational, sport, religious, political, cultural, and governance opportunities. Carnegie Mellon's campus houses several galleries such as The Frame, a student-devoted gallery, and the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery, an art gallery that specializes in contemporary professional artists. The Carnegie Mellon School of Music, Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and the student-run theatrical organization Scotch'n'Soda provides campus with a variety of world-class performance arts events. The university has a strong Scottish motif inspired by Andrew Carnegie's Scottish heritage, as well as the Mellon family's Scots-Irish ancestry. Examples include Scotty, the Scottish Terrier mascot, The Tartan student newspaper, Skibo Gymnasium, The Thistle yearbook, and the Céilidh weekend every fall semester for homecoming.

Traditions

The Fence – In the early days of Carnegie Tech, there was a single bridge which connected Margaret Morrison Women's College with the Carnegie Institute of Technology. The bridge was a meeting place for students. In 1916, the bridge was taken down and the university filled in the area. The administration built a wooden fence as a new meeting place. The students did not understand why anyone would want to meet at a fence. Administration was about to give up and tear it down but that night a fraternity, as a prank, painted the entire fence advertising a fraternity party. Ever since, painting the Fence has been a Carnegie Mellon tradition.[104] The Fence at Carnegie Mellon lies at the center of campus, in the area known as "the Cut." Students guard the fence 24 hours a day, and, as long as two vigils are maintained, no other student may "take" the fence. The fence can then be painted by the group that has it, but only between midnight and 6 am. Only hand brushes may be used; the use of spray paint or paint rollers is considered vandalism and results in a fine. The previous paint cannot be stripped, and each new painting adds a new layer. The original wooden fence finally collapsed in the 1990s due to the weight from over 1' of surrounding paint, and was immediately replaced with an identical one manufactured from concrete. Today the fence is considered "the world's most painted object," by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Spring Carnival – Usually held in April, Spring Carnival is the biggest event of the school year. In addition to classic carnival attractions, the Spring Carnival features the "Buggy Sweepstakes" and "Booth" (a competition between various organizations to build small, elaborate booths based on a theme chosen each year).

Two pushers exchange the buggy for Kappa Delta Rho on the first hill of Sweepstakes.

Buggy Races – Buggy, officially called Sweepstakes, is a race around Schenley Park. It can be thought of as a relay race with five runners, using the buggy vehicle as the baton. Entrants submit a small, usually torpedo-shaped, vehicle that is pushed uphill and then allowed to roll downhill. The vehicles are unpowered, including the prohibition of such energy-storing devices as flywheels. They are, however, steered by a driver who is usually a petite female student lying prone, arms stretched forward to steer via a turning mechanism. Space is so tight inside the buggies that the drivers usually cannot change position beyond turning their heads.

A Mobot competing in the annual Mobot challenge

Mobot – "Mobot,' a portmanteau for "mobile robot," is an annual competition at Carnegie Mellon that made its debut in 1994. In this event, robots try (autonomously) to pass through gates, in order, and reach the finish line. There is a white line on the pavement connecting the gates, and the line is normally used to find the gates, though it is not mandated by the rules that the robots follow the line.

Bagpipers – As one of only a handful of colleges offering a bachelor's degree in bagpipe music and the only to offer a Masters, Carnegie Mellon University's Pipes and Drums features the sounds of Scottish bagpipes and performs at University events. Director of the Pipes and Drums is champion piper Andrew Carlisle from Northern Ireland, a highly decorated solo piper and longtime member of nine times World Pipe Band Champions Field Marshal Montgomery. The ensemble actively competes at Highland Games in Grade Three in the Eastern United States.

The Kiltie Band- Carnegie Mellon's Kiltie Band, dressed in full Scottish regalia including kilts and knee socks, performs during every home football game.

Autographing the Green Room – Seniors in the College of Fine Arts sign the Green Room's walls and ceilings before leaving the university. Supposedly, Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter broke university tradition by signing the Green Room during her freshman year. With the construction of the Purnell Center in 1998 the School of Drama no longer occupied the old Green Room, so this tradition has gone away.

Housing

Carnegie Mellon offers conventional housing for its students through single-gender, coeducational, and special interest options. Students can choose from a variety of housing options. The three options for first-year students are standard, prime, and apartment-style living. Standard is a typical college dormitory setting, a long hallway with a series of double (two people to a room). Prime offers more privacy through suite-style rooms. Apartment-style living is available through the Residence on Fifth and Shirley apartments. Upperclassmen have additional options for housing which include town houses and a larger variety of one or two bedroom apartments. There are 20 residential buildings on campus and five off campus in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh.[105]

First-year students are assigned to the dedicated first-year residence halls on campus including: Morewood E-Tower, Residence on Fifth, Shirley Apartments, as well as Boss, Donner, Hamerschlag, McGill, Mudge, Scobell, and Stever houses. Approximately a third of upperclassmen choose to continue living on campus through university housing. Options for upperclassmen include: Morewood Gardens, West Wing, Doherty, Fairfax, Margaret Morrison, Neville, Shady Oak, Shirley, and Woodlawn Apartments as well as Henderson, Resnik, Roselawn, Spirit, Tech, Webster, and Welch houses.[105]

In addition to participating in campus traditions such as Buggy and Booth, the fraternities and sororities hold an annual fundraiser called Greek Sing, one of the largest Greek events of the year. Each year, the organizations vote on a cause to support and raise money through ticket sales, ad sales, corporate sponsorships and donations. Each organization performs a 13-minute-long original show or a rendition of a popular show. In Spring 2010, Greek Sing raised over $42,000 for St. Jude Children's Research

Football

On November 28, 1926, the 6–2 Carnegie Technical Institute football team shut out the undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish 19–0 at Forbes Field. Knute Rockne, the coach of the Irish at the time, was so confident that the Irish would defeat "tiny Carnegie Tech" that he decided to skip the game and travel to Chicago to watch the Army-Navy football game for scouting purposes. It was only later that he found out by telegram that the Irish had suffered their first loss of the season. ESPN compared the upset to the Appalachian State victory over the University of Michigan in 2007 [114] The game was ranked the fourth-greatest upset in college football history by ESPN.[115]

Track and cross country

In recent years, the varsity track and cross country programs have seen outstanding success on the Division III national level. The men's cross country team has finished in the top 15 in the nation each of the last three years, and has boasted several individual All-Americans. The men's track team has also boasted several individual All-Americans spanning sprinting, distance, and field disciplines. Recent All-Americans from the track team are Tommy Vandenberg (2014–2015), Brian Harvey (2007–2009), Davey Quinn (2007), Nik Bonaddio (2004, 2005), Mark Davis (2004, 2005), Russel Verbofsky (2004, 2005) and Kiley Williams (2005).

Volleyball

With much of the team's support, Lauren Schmidt received the NCAA Pennsylvania Woman of the Year award (2003), was a two-time All-American (2001 and 2002), a four-time All-University Athletic Association selection (1999–2002), and the conference's Player of the Year (2001).[116]

Cricket

The Carnegie Mellon Cricket Club represents Carnegie Mellon in inter-collegiate competitions. CMU cricket club are regular participants in American College Cricket national championships. CMU were joint-runners up in the first-ever American College Cricket Tournament held in Florida in Spring 2009.[117]